Amazing too on how those same guys would be ready to go at another island in a few months. My dad was on a Minesweeper and I have all of his old letters. He talks about a marine coming aboard to visit his brother. My dad compared his easy life with that of the Marine (”He killed 8 Japs that he knew of, two with his knife as they jumped into his foxhole.”)
He said the Marine was heading out the next day to an operation “that you will hear about by the time you get this letter.”
Looking at the dates it must have been Tinian, which was a VERY costly victory for us. I wondered if that Marine made it out of that one.
Although bought at a terrible cost, you could argue Saipan and Tinian won the Pacific war. That’s where the bombing campaign was based and where Enola Gay picked up the bombs.